If you were looking forward to the Twitter clash of the titans turning into a kickboxing fight at GLORY 21 between Joe Schilling and Phil Baroni you'll be in for a bit of a disappointment today. As reported by our bud Michael Stets over at MMAMania, Phil Baroni has turned down the fight with Joe Schilling due to not feeling that there was enough time for him to prepare for the fight.

It's a contrast from the words that Baroni was slinging over the past few days, but it looks like Baroni is asking for a full fight camp heading into a fight with Schilling. If we are honest with ourselves here, it's not asking too much to want a full camp before fighting Schilling in what would be considered his home turf of the GLORY ring, but then again, the beef was started by Baroni. Baroni does want this fight to happen in the future, but if we take a long, hard look at this fight it is more of a marketable fight for this moment in history, not in a few months when the heat will have died down and people will be asking the serious question as to why Joe Schilling, in his prime, is fighting a 38 year old man who has nothing left to prove.

This weekend's KRUSH show saw MMA fighter Akihiro Gono return to his kickboxing roots as he dropped down to a svelte 70kg (around 150lbs) to face K-1 MAX fighter Yuya Yamamoto. Gono had some issues making weight, missing weight and having to go cut a few more kilograms to make 70kg. He hasn't fought that light in years now, so it makes sense. He looked extremely dehydrated in the photos floating around of the weigh-ins, albeit also very cut. Watch how Gono, a SHOOTO, Pancrase, ZST, DEEP, PRIDE and UFC veteran handles himself against a good K-1 MAX fighter in Yamamoto, while still out classed he had some tricks in his bag.

Not bad for a MMA fighter who was brutally KO'd by Dan Hornbuckle in Sengoku a while back.

Dustin Jacoby made a big splash on the kickboxing world when he entered into GLORY after little notice. He entered a Road 2 GLORY tournament without much notice and was able to steamroll it, earning himself a spot on the main GLORY roster. Since then he's gone 1-5, but that has been against some of the best fighters in the world. He is still really learning to love kickboxing and there is definitely a possible future for him if they maybe scale down his competition to something more of his level.

This past weekend he fought for Titan Fighting Championship in his return to MMA where he made short work of Lucas Lopes with his striking. If you were to ask me if his striking has improved I'd probably give a big 'yes.' Jacoby's next fight is September 5th against King Mo Lawal in Bellator.

It's Showtime had an excellent year in 2010, but it wasn't until the final fight on the final show that they put on a true fight for the ages. Mosab Amrani v. Mohamed Khamal is a testament to the power of quality matchmaking. These are two young fighters, both eager to move up the ranks, and both coming in determined to win. They're also extremely evenly matched, which results in a tremendous back and forth bout. This one reminds me of Chahid v. Zambidis in a lot of ways, as both men throw at a very fast pace, but also use considerably more skill and technique then you see in many of these all action fights. Khamal is in blue, Amrani in red.

If you ask me, Khamal should have picked up the decision win after regulation, but I have no complaints the way things went down. Fun, fun fight here, and it's not terrible hyperbole when the announced says it may be the best fight It's Showtime has ever produced. Great way for the company to close out the year and springboard into what could be a blockbuster 2011.

A year ago, the much hyped Satoshi Ishii made a dissapointing MMA debut, failing to impress at Dynamite!! 2009. Tonight, the decorated Olympian showed off his vast improvement in the last year, defeating Jerome Le Banner in a very good fight.

For much of the fight, Ishii was able to outwrestle and control the stand-up fighter Le Banner. But JLB is a far more skilled MMA combatant than many other kickboxers, and was frequently able to reverse Ishii and take advantage. In the 3rd round, Ishii took clear control of the fight, locking on a tight kimura that looked to end it. JLB gutted it out and miraculously survived, but the strong sub attempt made it clear who had won.

Ishii took the justified unanimous decision, and interestingly, the result was booed. I think that stems more from Japanese loyalty to JLB than displeasure with the decision, but it's pretty shocking to see a Japanese sports hero booed like that in Japan. It was a good reminder that, although Ishii has improved, he definitely has not caught fire with the Japanese crowd as many hoped he would.

Former UFC fighter and current GLORY fighter Pat Barry was announced as an addition to January's Legacy Kickboxing event promoted by Legacy Fighting. The fight goes down on January 16th in Houston, Texas and Pat Barry will be fighting Demoreo Dennis. Barry is still under contract with GLORY but GLORY has given both Pat and Legacy the go-ahead for the fight.

The fight will air on AXS TV and will be using a variation of the K-1/GLORY rule set, which means no elbows and limited clinch work. This is already adding to a card including Michael Corley and Cosmo Alexandre, which is great. It's good to see more kickboxing hitting the airwaves soon and bringing the heat.

This weekend at GLORY 16 we'll see the GLORY Kickboxing debut of Pat Barry. Pat Barry is perhaps best known from his run in the UFC, where he was involved in some truly memorable fights, some of the most memorable in UFC history. Of course, part of the problem with being a UFC fighter is that the UFC promotes the brand first, Dana White second, their shows third and somewhere along the way the fighters. This creates an atmosphere devoid of individual stars.

Pat Barry's jump to GLORY is a huge win for GLORY, seeing as though Pat Barry is a marketable personality and a talented striker. The question is, will he give them an immediate injection of credibility? The data from Google Trends tends to say "no."

Sports apparel brand adidas has been making a big push into the world of Martial Arts over the past few months with their latest move being an interesting one, to say the least. Today adidas announced that they are teaming up with New York muay thai promotion Friday Night Fights. Adidas seems inspired to look outside of the box in their sponsorships and teaming with Friday Night Fights is a tremendous opportunity for the New York-based promotion that has been making waves for years.

“From our perspective as a brand that so many expect so much from, connecting with the right grass roots fight promotion means everything. Our objective is support the core audience and everyday blue & white collar warriors,” “The women and men who embrace what it means to face your goals and improve yourself every night you hit the gym are who we care about. This is our company obsession. How do we serve these dedicated people and their beloved sport? The answer is clear.: We form an alliance with Friday Night Fight’s.”

ACS’s Managing Director Scott Viscomi continues, “when you come to their events, you can feel the energy in the room, it’s electrifying! Justin and his team are long term pro’s who know what it takes to match great athletes, and entertain the people buying seats. As we work to remind the core market of adidas’ long and rich history in Olympic Judo, Tae Kwon Do, and Boxing to Professional Boxing, MMA, and Kickboxing, we couldn’t have a better strategic partner than FNF to relaunch our Muay Thai programs."

Legendary Muay Thai trainer Peter Sisomphou has worked with countless top names in the world of martial arts over the years, including Firas Zahabi, David Loiseau, Ivan Menjivar and more. He's been a name within the world of martial arts for a very long time now and recently had to undergo a quadruple bypass surgery, which has a very long road to recovery. For a guy like Sisomphou, being in the gym and training fighters is how he makes his living and right now he is unable to do that.

FundAFighter has launched a campaign to raise money for Sisomphou while he is recovering to help to pay for his bills while he waits to get back into the gym and working again. Remember, the world of martial arts is not one that includes 401ks, sick pay and other luxuries found in desk jobs. So head over to FundAFighter to read more about Masta Peter Sisomphou and how you can help.

Badr Hari is a name that strikes strong emotions with kickboxing fans across the world, some love him while others find his behavior in and outside of the ring a disgrace to the sport. Regardless, Badr Hari has made a huge impact on the world of kickboxing in the past five years or so. We've seen Badr Hari climb up to the very peak of the mountain only to melt down twice now.

Yesterday we took a look at Badr Hari's breakout bout of 2009 where he met then three-time K-1 World Grand Prix Champion, Semmy Schilt, in the It's Showtime ring for the It's Showtime World Heavyweight Championship. This was a big bout for Badr Hari, as he was able to bull rush Semmy Schilt, knock him off balance and quickly knock him out. The usual approach to taking out Semmy Schilt is a slow, methodical pace, wait for him to make a mistake and swarm him. Badr Hari didn't bother waiting, he just swarmed, smelled blood and took the title home. Badr Hari then went into the Final 16 in Korea with a world of momentum behind him, leaving poor Zabit Samedov to square off with a hungry and well-prepared Badr Hari.

Zabit Samedov is no slouch, he is a world class kickboxer who often finds himself in bad situations due to his size. In the world of K-1 there are Heavyweights and there are Super Heavyweights. Samedov is a small Heavyweight fighting against monsters of men like Hari. None of that mattered when he stepped into the ring against Badr Hari. This was stop two on Badr Hari's road to redemption.

We will continue to look at what led Badr Hari to his May 14th clash with Gregory Tony for It's Showtime, why he hasn't fought for a year and the fights that happened along the way.